Stranded
by jackandsamforever
Summary: Liz is stranded in the middle of a snowstorm while trying to find Red. Will Red find her before she freezes to death? Dedicated to lknopp10
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **lknopp10 prompted me to write a Liz and Red stranded in the snow fic. Thanks for the wonderful prompt! This is set in the future of course.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything related to the Blacklist.

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Liz sat sleepily at her tiny kitchen table, trying to wake up enough to drink her morning coffee. It was early Saturday morning, with the gray morning light just beginning to brighten up her darkened kitchen. She stared out the window as the light gray clouds in the sky began to spit little flakes of pristine snow over the dirty streets of DC.

She had always loved snow, stemming back to when she was a young girl. Sam had taken her sledding whenever the opportunity presented itself, and they had often gone to the local park to build snowmen. He would give her his hat and tie so she could put them on the snowman, then she would declare, "It's you daddy!" Sam would smile, then kneel down and hug her; thanking her for building such a good-looking snowman. He had never denied her the opportunity to go outside in the snow, even if it was ten degrees and miserable out. He wanted her to experience life to the fullest, and she was forever grateful to him for that.

She was glad that she didn't have to go to work today though. As she'd gotten older, she'd become more indifferent towards the snow, leaning towards dislike. Trying to drive through it in DC was a nightmare, because every year it seemed like fewer people knew how to actually drive in bad weather. It felt like she was at a theme park riding in the bumper cars, trying to avoid being hit on all sides. It saddened her that she didn't look at snow the same way that she used to, but it was inevitable as adults became jaded towards the pleasures of small children.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Hudson's nails scraping across the wood floor as he approached her. When he reached her, he put his head in her lap and she moved her hand down and scratched behind his ears; his tail thumped happily against the floor. She reached over to the wall next to her and flipped on the light so she could peruse the morning paper at her leisure.

It was nice to not have anything to do for once. No boss to tell her what to do, no husband to nag her about remodeling the living room, no Red to riddle her into anger. It was going to be a slow, relaxing day to take time for herself and unwind from the constant stress in her life.

Liz ran her fingers through Hudson's soft curls once more before she reached forward and opened the newspaper. She read through it quickly, avoiding anything that had to do with law enforcement and criminals. That left very little else to read, so after she skimmed the box scores for the NBA games, she turned to the crossword puzzle and began reading over the clues. Ever since Red had come into her life, he'd always worked on crossword puzzles in front of her. She had noticed early on that he always seemed to finish them quickly, and was amazed that he usually had all the answers right. Liz, however, was terrible at them. She usually only got a few of the answers right before giving up to do something else; she didn't have the patience to sit there and ponder the correct answers. She wondered what that said about her.

She read the first clue: _Amor Fati_

There were ten boxes for the answer, but she literally didn't have a clue what it could be. She'd heard the meaning of those words before, but she couldn't remember them now for the life of her. She picked up her coffee to take another sip, when she heard her text message alert go off from her phone in her bedroom. Great. It was probably Ressler texting her about another case. There went her relaxing Saturday.

As she stood up and stretched her arms over her head as Hudson whined at being dislodged from her lap. She patted him on the head once more and walked towards her bedroom. Her bare feet were cold walking across the wood floor, and she made a mental note to buy some slippers the next chance she got.

She picked up her cell from her bedside table and pushed the home button to bring the screen to life. The message wasn't from Ressler, but from Red.

**Red: Lizzie, I need you to meet me. I set up a meeting with the next blacklister, but I don't want the FBI to know about it yet.**

Liz sighed and walked over to her curtained bedroom window, then pulled it open to look outside. The snow was coming down harder, beginning to stick to the tops of the cars parked on the street. She brought her phone back up and texted him back.

**Liz: First of all, _I_ am FBI. Second, it's starting to snow. I'm not going anywhere today.**

She pushed send with satisfaction, then stuck the phone in the pocket of her robe and made her way back into the kitchen. She looked at her abandoned crossword puzzle with disdain, then walked over to the cabinet that held Hudson's food and poured some into his bowl. As the dog began eating, she barely heard the ping of her phone over Hudson's loud eating noises.

Liz pulled her phone out again.

**Red: If we don't move today, I fear that we won't be able to catch him at all. By the way, I don't appreciate your sarcasm, sweetheart. It's not becoming of you. ;)**

Liz heaved an exasperated sigh. She had already known from the first text that she was going to have to brave the weather and meet Red. Damn him.

**Liz: Fine. Text me the address. What does Amor Fati mean, BTW?**

She might as well get that question answered so it wouldn't bother her all day on top of everything else.

As she walked back to her bedroom to get ready, she pulled her phone out once more at the sound of the text notification.

**Red: Amor Fati quite literally means "Love of fate". Why do you ask? I don't have the address of the location quite yet, I'll have Dembe text you the details shortly. See you soon.**

Liz laughed out loud as she read his text. Of course it meant fate, because how relevant was it to her life? Was she supposed to love that Raymond Reddington had taken over her life? "Amor Fati" was a nice concept, but she didn't think she could ever look at everything as good; she was too cynical.

She texted him back quickly before she jumped in the shower.

**Liz: I came across it in a crossword puzzle this morning, so I was just wondering. Bye.**

As she stepped under the hot spray of the shower, she closed her eyes and prepared herself to deal with Reddington for the next few hours. She always felt drained after being in his presence for too long. He never answered any important questions directly, and that alone drove her absolutely crazy. It felt like being in a ten-round boxing match with a person heavier and stronger than she was.

It didn't help that over the past year she'd started developing feelings for the man. After Tom had been taken down by her and her team at the FBI, she'd been too devastated and heartbroken to think about little else. Red had brought her meals often and made her eat until he was satisfied. He also let her rant at him whenever she needed to vent; he'd been a good friend. She hadn't even realized when she'd started to consider him a friend and not just an assignment.

Developing feelings for him wasn't supposed to happen either.

OOOOOO

**Dembe: Agent Scott, Mr. Reddington told me to text you the address of his location. I am worried that the weather is going to slow you down. Please be careful. He would not want to carry on if you were no longer in his life. I will not be joining you as I have other duties to attend to. The address is 43433 Antler Mountain Road. If you put it in your GPS you should be able to find it. Good luck Ms. Scott.**

Liz slid into her car and brushed the snow off of her coat and hair. Luckily the snow hadn't worsened since she'd last looked, but it still didn't bode well for her driving. She turned the car on and cranked the heater up, shivering as cold air began blowing through the vents. She was seriously regretting her life choices at the moment.

She put the address in her GPS and it told her that it was going to be a forty-five minute drive. Once hot air began blowing through the vents, she pulled away from the curb and was almost instantly rear-ended by a teenager driving too fast. She laid on her horn and the kid flipped her off as he passed by her.

She began driving again, slower this time and cursed Red in her head for the next thirty minutes. It was easier to blame him since he wasn't there to defend himself.

The GPS instructed her to turn onto a dirt road; she was instantly worried about that. Her silver Mercedes wasn't meant to be taken off-roading, and the snow was getting worse by the minute; already forming a thin blanket over the pavement and landscape. She pictured Red making passive-aggressive comments about "Women drivers" and knew she was going to brave the roads just for that reason alone.

OOOOOO

The dirt (now snow-packed) road wound further and further up the mountain. The snow was coming down so hard now that she had to turn her defroster and her windshield wipers on high just so she could see enough to stay on the road. She prayed that there weren't any other cars on the road, because they would collide head-on.

Her GPS told her that she was only ten minutes away from her destination. She had already fish-tailed too many times to count, so she hoped that it was correct, because she didn't think she could go much longer; but she had a feeling that it wasn't right.

Liz rounded another sharp turn on the road, and came to an abrupt halt. She gunned the accelerator in hopes of getting the car to move again, but the wheels just spun, digging her in deeper. She hit the steering wheel with her hand as hard as she could and swore, "Dammit!" Then instantly regretted it, because now her hand hurt like hell.

She opened the door and yelped as a cascade of snow fell on top of her. She brushed it off quickly and stepped out to see how stuck she really was. As she walked towards the back of her car, she noted that the snow was almost already knee-high. She had a feeling she would be walking the rest of the way to their meeting spot; she just hoped it was someplace warm. As she reached the wheels, she saw that they were half-way buried, and her half-assed attempts at getting out had only made things worse; the car was stuck.

She hurriedly slid back into the car and checked her phone. There were five text messages and two voicemails from Red, but of course now she didn't have any service to send a text or call him back. Her phone had been on silent the entire time and she hadn't realized it.

Liz read the texts from him.

**Red: I'm here at the meeting place. It's rustic, but it'll have to do so he won't be spooked. He thinks we're doing business after all.**

**Red: Lizzie, is it snowing down there as badly as it is here?**

**Red: Why aren't you answering? I think I'm going to reschedule.**

**Red: I called the meeting off, but I'll have to stay here until Dembe can get to me. Turn around and go back home if you can.**

**Red: I'll be watching for you. Be careful, sweetheart.**

She wondered for a second how he had service, but then remembered that he had a satellite phone that apparently could send text messages. She wasn't going to listen to her voicemails, because they would be more of the same.

Liz stuck her phone in the inner pocket of her jacket and pulled her leather gloves on. It was freezing outside, and it was only going to get colder. She wished she would have worn her heavy winter coat, but she hadn't. She only had on a pair of designer jeans and black boots.

She stepped out of the car once again, pulled her hood over her head and locked the door behind her. The snow fell heavily on her, and she shivered. Her boots weren't made for snow unfortunately, and she could already feel the cold leaching to her feet; she had to hurry.

She walked for ten or fifteen minutes, trying to think of anything but how cold she was. She even tried to think about her feelings for Red, but nothing seemed to help as she began shivering violently from the swirling snow and howling wind.

Another twenty minutes passed with nothing coming into sight besides more white. That's all she saw was white. The trees were white, the rocks were white; she wondered if she was going color blind.

Her teeth had been chattering for a good ten minutes, and she could feel herself starting to slow down; she felt sleepy and knew that was one of the first signs of hypothermia. The longer she walked, the more her eyelids drooped. She slapped herself more than a few times, but it became harder each time to fully open her eyes. She walked past a large white rock and stopped; she needed to rest for a second. Just for a second then she would begin walking again.

Decided, she sat down and closed her eyes. She felt better already; and she didn't feel cold. In the back of her mind, she knew that was bad, but she was confused and nothing seemed to make sense to her. She slid down the rock and leaned her back against it and closed her eyes.

She would only sleep for a few minutes; everything was going to be ok.

**AN: **Ok, so does this sound like something you all would want to read? I envision it going for at least a few chapters. I know I've been updating my fics often and I don't want you guys to get tired of me, but this prompt wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it. I would love to hear feedback from you guys. Thanks for reading. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Warmth. That was the first thing Liz felt when she first came back to awareness. The last thing she remembered doing was falling asleep against a rock. She had only planned on sleeping for a few minutes, but realized now how stupid that had been because she wouldn't have woken up. Was she dead now? Is that why she wasn't in pain or cold? She tried to open her eyes, but they felt weighed down and heavy; and try as she might, she couldn't get them to open. She held still and listened for any sound, but it was completely silent. She would have to rely on touch if her other senses were failing her.

She focused on her body and what she was lying on. It didn't feel like a hard surface, so she assumed that she was on a bed. There was a weight lying across her chest that she guessed was a blanket; which would explain why she was so warm. She tried to lift her arm, but could only move it a few inches before it fell back to her side. She sighed and began working on moving her limbs inch by inch.

After what seemed like hours, she finally could move both of her legs, but hadn't managed to open her eyes yet. She worked on opening them until she heard the sound of a door open and close in the distance. She didn't know if she was in the hands of a friend or enemy, so she did the only thing she could think to do; pretend to still be asleep.

She heard footsteps approach her, then the sound of a chair squeaking as whoever had entered her room sat down. She tried to breath as she would if she were asleep, but she felt terrified and was having a hard time accomplishing it. They cleared their throat and coughed a little, then stood up from their chair and walked out of the room. The person was definitely a man, but she couldn't identify from those few sounds who it was.

He walked back in and she could feel him lean over her and chuckle quietly. "Agent Scott, I know you're not asleep anymore; quit trying to fake it or things are going to get worse for you."

Shit. He definitely wasn't Red. He smelt of stale cigarettes and bad breath, and it took all her willpower not to gag. She finally managed to crack her eyes open and squinted at the man's face hovering over hers. The room was so bright that she couldn't make out his features, but he looked vaguely familiar. He brought his fingers to her eyelids and pried her eyes open the rest of the way. "Come on, open your damn eyes. We have some business to attend to." The way he said "business" made her skin crawl.

With her eyes held open, she couldn't blink the blurriness away, so she stared up at him with wide, unseeing eyes. She tried to say something, but all that came out was a soft croak and nothing else.

He heaved a heavy sigh and reached back and slapped her across the face, hard. She cried out a little as her eyes filled up with tears. She blinked a few times and the blurriness cleared away enough that she could finally see her captor, Lucas Fields; he was the very same blacklister that she and Red had tried to lure up here. He must have seen right through them and jumped at the opportunity to take her when he could; she was perfect bait for Red.

He was ugly; with long, oily blond hair that only ran around the sides of his head, with little tufts of hair on top. He wore 70's style glasses there were large and yellow, with a stained button up flannel shirt and dirty jeans. He moved his hand back towards her face and all she could see were his long, dirty fingernails and hands that were covered in grime; she swallowed down another gag as she thought about his disgusting fingers touching her eyes. She was probably going to get a disease from him.

His hand caressed her cheek softly as he sat down beside her hip and smiled humorlessly. Most of his teeth were missing, and the few that he did have were black and rotting. She tried not to breath as he leaned his chest over hers and leered at her.

She swallowed thickly, then cleared her throat and finally managed to say something. "What do you want?" She said with a raspy, quiet voice.

He tilted his head and grinned wider. "Oh, I don't want anything in particular. I just want to have my fun with you until I'm satisfied. I know you're Reddington's girl, and I also know that he would kill me if I ever touched you. I plan on being long gone by the time he finds you broken and beaten down."

He laughed again, then stood up abruptly and walked out of the room. This was her chance to get away from him. She threw the blanket away and moved to sit up, but saw that she only had her bra and panties on. That _creep _had undressed her and did who knows what to her while she was unconscious; she felt like she'd been sucker punched.

Stifling a sob and ignoring her state of undress, she stood up on unsteady legs and staggered to the doorway. Lucas had his back to her doing something at the kitchen sink. She looked to her right and saw a vase sitting on one of the end tables by the couch. She walked over to it slowly while keeping her eyes on Lucas. She had just laid her fingertips on the vase when Lucas turned around and chuckled. "Are you planning on hitting me over the head and running away? Where do you think you're going to go? It's a damn blizzard outside." His voice dripped with sarcasm, and it only served to fuel Liz's rage. She picked up the vase and watched as Lucas approached her with an amused smile on his face. He seemed to be confident that she wouldn't be able to do much damage. Of course she was already beginning to feel dizzy, and her legs were trembling from suddenly being asked to work for the first time in a while; but he didn't need to know that.

He walked within a few feet of her, then stopped and raked his eyes over her body. He 'tsk'd' then said, "I should have taken off everything. Then I'd be getting a real show now."

That did it. All she could see was red as she charged towards him and lifted the vase over her head to take him out. She ran into him full force and knocked him to the ground, then began to bring the vase down on his head when he surprised her by flipping their bodies to where he straddled her and the vase rolled away harmlessly; she had underestimated him, and was probably going to lose her life because of it.

He punched her cheek, then her jaw as his chest heaved with exertion. She could feel blood pooling in her mouth and spit it into his face as he leaned over her. He sat back and wiped his sleeve over his face, then smiled. "That was a big mistake, Bitch. I hadn't planned on killing you, but I think I might now. You're too much trouble."

She didn't bother to respond as she closed her eyes and tried calm her racing heart while trying to form a plan in her mind; she couldn't think of anything, and that scared her to death.

Her arms were pinned to her sides by his legs, so she couldn't move as he leaned over her again and kissed her neck, then ran his fingers over the swell of her breasts. She tried to pull her arms free, but his legs tightened so much that he was beginning to hurt her ribs; he was strong for being short and slight.

He moved his mouth over her mouth and kissed her, then pulled away and moved down the other side of her neck. His rancid breath was making her sick, but she didn't want to do anything more at the moment to cause him to strike her again. As he leaned over her, she could feel his arousal pressing into her stomach through his jeans and shuddered involuntarily.

He sat back on her hips and unzipped his zipper, then reached through his boxers and began to pull. This was her chance while he was distracted. She quickly sat up and threw him off-balance, then as he landed on his back, she threw herself on top of him and grabbed the vase lying near her and hit him with it over and over until he laid motionless underneath her; bleeding from multiple spots on his face. She rolled off of him and took a deep breath to keep herself from passing out; she had to tie him up before she did that.

She stood up on shaky legs and searched the kitchen area for something to tie him up with. She was half tempted to just throw him out in the snow, but she couldn't bring herself to do that, no matter how badly she hated him. She couldn't find anything to tie him up with and was getting desperate. She glanced towards him and saw his shoelaces and figured that would have to do. Liz walked over to him, then grabbed him by the armpits and dragged him towards a straight-backed chair. She put him on the chair roughly, then knelt in front of him and pulled his shoelaces out quickly and tied him up the best she could.

She sat back on the floor and closed her eyes to fight off a wave of dizziness. It didn't seem to help though, as she swayed slightly and blinked her eyes a few times; she was losing her fight to stay conscious. She laid down on the cold wood floor and closed her eyes; her last thought was that she hoped she'd tied Lucas up well enough.

OOOOOO

Liz opened her eyes slowly and looked around in confusion. She was back on the bed with clothes on and a blanket thrown over her. Maybe she'd been having a terrible nightmare? She yawned and felt a sharp pain in her jaw and cheek; that's when she knew that it hadn't been a dream.

She sat up slowly, then stopped as she heard voices come from the other room; one of them was Red's. How the hell had he found her?

"If you think you're going to leave here alive, Lucas, then your more stupid that I imagined. I saw what you did to Agent Scott, or should I say attempted to do to her. It looks like she took care of you herself, but she's too tied to the good side of the law to dispose of you. That's where I come in."

Lucas' scared voice sounded loud in the quiet cabin as he said, "Come on Reddington, I wasn't going to do anything to her, I swear. I was just going to scare her."

She wished that she could see them, but they were out of her line of sight. "Now Lucas, don't lie to me. I hate liars."

"I'm not ly-"

Red cut him off angrily. "Since Agent Scott is here, I'm not going to kill you like I want to. What I am going to do is put a thin coat and a pair of boots on you and throw you outside to find your own way out of here. You probably won't make it through the night, but freezing to death is far more preferable to what I would do to you here."

She heard pathetic whimpering, then quiet shuffling sounds as the door opened and Red's voice floated back to her, "I would wish you luck, Lucas, but I don't think that's going to matter."

"Red wait, don't leave m-"

Lucas' voice was cut off by the closing door, then she heard the lock slide into place; she couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for him, even if he was practically being murdered.

She heard footsteps approach her room and glanced over herself to make sure she was covered; she had a white button down shirt on that went down to mid-thigh and nothing else; it had to be Red's shirt. She hurriedly pulled the blanket to cover her lap as Red walked in the room and smiled at her.

"Lizzie, I'm glad to see you're awake." He approached her with his hands in his pockets as Liz took in his appearance. He had on a white dress shirt that was open at the collar with an unbuttoned cream-colored vest and cream-colored trousers; parts of her favorite suit on him.

He stopped a few feet from her and tilted his head slightly. "How are you feeling?"

She tore her eyes away from the smattering of blonde chest hair and locked eyes with him. "I'm not sure. How the hell did you find me?"

He bit the inside of his cheek and looked at something behind her. "I had Dembe aquire a map of all the cabins that are up here, then I located your car and searched the cabins closest to there. When I didn't find you, I searched the only other one that you could be in and found you lying on the floor, practically naked with that piece of scum tied up."

Liz furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "If it's a blizzard out there then how did you even begin to search for me, and how did you know that I needed to be found?"

Red approached her and sat down next to her, leaving a few inches of space between them. "When you didn't text or call me back I knew you had attempted to make it out here; which wasn't very smart, Lizzie." He admonished, then continued, "I have a truck with four-wheel drive. There were a few moments where I thought I wasn't going to make it, but here we are."

She stared at his fingers that were pulling on a thread on the blanket. "I know it was stupid coming up here, I realize that now, but at the time the snow wasn't that bad and I-"

He cut her off by running his fingers softly over her cheek and jaw. "I apologize for not getting here sooner."

She froze at the contact and looked at him in confusion. "How is this in any way your fault? I was the one that was stupid enough to attempt to come up here and risk my life for no reason other than I didn't want you to mock me for being a wimp."

He shook his head and moved his hand back to his lap. "Lizzie," he said warningly.

She stood up abruptly, temporarily forgetting that she was wearing his shirt and nothing else. She heard him clear his throat and she glanced back to see him staring at her legs. Liz turned around and pulled the shirt down as far as she could, but it didn't help much as it barely reached mid-thigh.

"Eyes up here."

He slowly raked his eyes over her body, then finally made eye-contact with a smug smile. "You look entirely too appealing in my shirt, Lizzie."

She clenched her jaw and leaned over him to reach for the blanket behind him, not realizing that she was giving him an unobstructed view of her breasts from the wide opening of his shirt.

He reached back and handed her the blanket before he did or said anything stupid, then watched as she wrapped it around her then sat back down next to him.

He had a small smile on his face that she didn't understand, but she ignored him and said, "So, where are my clothes?"

He shook his head. "I haven't been able to find them."

She sighed and said, "So what now?"

He stood up and walked over to the window and moved the curtain aside to look out. He looked back at her with an unreadable expression. "We're not going anywhere. If possible, the snow is worse than before."

She laid back down on the bed, suddenly feeling like she was going to pass out again. He crouched down near her head and ran his fingers through her hair softly. "Are you ok?"

"I'm not sure what's wrong with me. I don't know if that creep drugged me or-"

She moved her face up to look at him, her eyebrows narrowed in anger, "You sent him out there in the snow to die. I can't believe you did that!"

He stood up, then sat down next to her head. "And what would you have me do? Keep him here with us?"

He was right of course, but she didn't have to like it, and she wasn't going to tell him that she agreed. She changed to topic, determined to discuss the blacklister later on. "Yeah, well is this cabin even equipped for long-term stay?" She turned her body towards his and stared at his thigh.

"There's enough food and water for a few days, but that's all. I'm hoping we'll get out of here before then, but I'm not certain we will. I'm not confident that the power will stay on either, and we don't have enough firewood to last us more than a day."

'So you're telling me that we're going to freeze to death before we starve to death? Sounds great."

She reached over and punched his thigh lightly. "This is your fault," she said somewhat teasingly, but he didn't take it that way.

"You're right, it is my fault, and I'm going to do my best to get us out of this situation."

"Red, I didn't mean-"

He stood up abruptly, dislodging her hand that had been resting unconsciously on his thigh. "I'm starving. Should we see if there's anything good to eat around here?'

He walked around the bed and held a hand out for her to take. She took it and he pulled her up and into his arms. He embraced her for moment and whispered in her ear, "I'm glad you're ok. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something had happened to you." He kissed the spot in front of her ear then pulled out of her arms and walked towards the kitchen.

She was so surprised by his words and his affection that it took her a few moments to remember how to walk. She followed after him and sat down at the bar, then watched him search through the cabinets for something to eat. He pulled out two cans of chili and held them up with a grimace. "We're going to be eating a lot of soup. What do you prefer?"

She leaned an elbow on the counter and put her chin in her hand. "Is there any chicken noodle soup?"

He nodded and turned back to the cabinet and pulled out two cans. As she watched him prepare their meal, she felt her eyes begin to droop and she couldn't seem to concentrate. She was startled awake by his low voice near her ear, "Lizzie, why don't we get you back to bed? You're still recovering from nearly freezing to death and from your little tussle with Lucas." His voice lowered an octave, "Which I find incredibly hot how you took care of him yourself."

She turned her face and smiled at him sleepily. Their faces were only inches apart and she found herself staring at his lips; she couldn't seem to look away.

He leaned forward slightly, and she thought he was going to kiss her until he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and helped her off of the stool. As they walked towards the couch he said, "Do you feel up to eating or would you rather sleep?"

She yawned and said, "I think I want to sleep, but not on the bed."

He nodded and helped her lie down on the couch, then unwrapped the blanket from her body and laid it over the top of her. He brushed back a few strands of hair from her forehead and gave her a small smile. She felt cold and wrapped the blanket around her tighter as she said, "You really need to find my clothes. I don't want to walk around half-naked the entire time."

He huffed a quiet laugh, "You won't hear me complaining."

She drifted off to sleep with a small smile on her face as he moved away and walked back into the kitchen.

Neither of them saw Lucas Fields looking in the window and plotting his revenge.

**AN: **Sorry it took me so long to update this, I have too many fics going on at once..haha. I hope this didn't disappoint. Thanks so much for the reviews from the last chapter, and I would love to hear what you guys think. Thanks for reading. :)


	3. Chapter 3

Liz was woken by strange sounds coming from in front of her. She opened her eyes slowly and could barely see Red crouched in front of the fireplace building a fire. It was pitch dark in the room beyond the lighter he held in his hand. She sat up and stretched her hands over her head and yawned. Red glanced back and her, but the shadows hid his expression from her.

"I'm guessing the power went out?"

He turned back to the fireplace and said, "Unfortunately yes. It didn't last as long as I hoped it would. We don't have much wood."

"Well you know what they say about the best way to conserve body heat." She hid her smile behind another yawn.

Red cleared his throat and finally managed to get the little pile of kindling to light the sticks that he had strategically placed. "What do they say, Lizzie?"

Liz shook her head and pulled the blanket closer around her. "Stop it."

She heard him huff a quiet laugh, then watched as he stood and stretched his back. The fire illuminated his body in a good way, and she couldn't help but stare at his ass.

He turned, and she averted her eyes before he caught her staring. Her stomach chose that moment to grumble, and because it was so quiet in the room, he heard it. "Are you ready to eat something?"

She grimaced. "I don't really feel like eating cold soup."

He walked by her and squeezed her shoulder lightly as he made his way into the kitchen. "Luckily for you this cabin has gas appliances, so we're fine to use the stove top."

She sighed and mumbled sarcastically, "Yes, so lucky."

"What was that?" She didn't turn to look at him, but could hear him pulling out a pot and turning the stove on.

"Nothing. So does that mean the toilet works too?"

"Yes, and by the way, I found scraps of your clothing in the fireplace. It seems our friend Lucas burnt them."

She sighed and stood up to see him opening her can of soup with a manual can opener. In the dim light she could see his forearm muscles flexing as he turned the crank; she loved it when he rolled his sleeves up, nothing was sexier to her than a man with nice forearms.

She shook herself from her thoughts when she saw Red looking at her with an amused expression on his face. "What?"

He quirked his mouth and poured the contents of the can in the pot, then picked a spoon up to stir it. "Nothing. Why don't you go take a shower, the water heater is gas-powered too. I'm sure you'll feel a lot better once you get that son of a bitch's stench off you." He had a point, she could still smell his rancid breath on her skin, and she almost gagged at the thought of it.

"Do you happen to have any spare clothes lying around?" She had been joking, but Red either didn't notice or didn't care.

"I'm afraid not. I only had the shirt you're wearing in my truck because it has a small tear in the armpit and I had to change into the one I'm wearing now." She lifted up her left arm and saw the tiny hole in the dim light. It didn't look big enough to change shirts for, but she knew how anal Red was about his clothing. He continued before she could comment, "There are a few towels in the bathroom. They don't smell very fresh, but beggars can't be choosers. There are also some old bottles of men's shampoo and bodywash. I'm afraid you'll have to make do."

Liz tugged on the bottom of her shirt again and nodded. "Thank you. I'll be back soon."

Red smiled faintly and said, "Your dinner should be ready shortly."

Liz nodded and walked out of the room before she could thank him for being so caring and considerate; he didn't need to stroke his ego even more.

OOOOOO

Lucas Fields shivered against the side of the cabin. He couldn't feel his fingers or toes very well anymore and his mind was fuzzy. He'd hoped that they would go to bed soon so he could try to sneak inside, but when the cabin lost power he knew that they wouldn't leave the warmth of the front room. He pulled his lighter out of his boot and fumbled with it as he tried to flick it on. After a few attempts, he managed to light it and stared at the small flickering flame. Suddenly an idea struck him and he no longer felt cold. He had an idea to get rid of the woman and Raymond Reddington at the same time; he was brilliant.

OOOOOO

Liz turned the water on as hot as it would go and stood under the scalding stream for countless minutes. She felt dirty and violated. She hoped that Lucas hadn't done anything more than take off her clothes, but she didn't know. She didn't think she had been raped, but only testing done by the hospital would give her piece of mind.

She picked up the bottle of bodywash and screwed off the lid to smell it. It didn't smell like that vile bastard, but it didn't smell like Red either; and she really wanted it to. His scent always comforted her and made her feel safe; this stuff didn't, but it would have to do.

She scrubbed her body over and over with the soap until the water began to cool down. She hurriedly rinsed herself off, then picked up the shampoo and washed her hair quickly. The water was almost cold by the time she shut it off, and she was full-fledged shivering by the time she stepped out of the shower and dried herself off. She slipped the same underwear she had on before with disgust, then slid Red's shirt back on and buttoned it up with stiff fingers; her shivering had only grown worse.

She picked up an old and gross looking comb from the bathroom counter and turned on water in the sink to try to clean it off. When it was as clean as possible, she turned the water off and combed through her hair. Despite Red telling her that she would feel clean, she didn't feel any cleaner, and in fact felt worse because she had had time to think.

She hung her wet towel over the shower rod then walked out of the bathroom with chattering teeth. She found Red still in the kitchen washing the pot that he had used to warm up her soup with. He turned his head with a small smile on his face, but it quickly turned to a frown when he saw her standing there looking like she was about to cry. He grabbed a dishtowel and dried his hands off, then walked over to her and pulled her into a hug without a word. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tightly as he heard her muffled crying against his shoulder. He didn't try to soothe her with meaningless words, but instead moved his hands over her back and through her wet hair over and over as he let her cry herself out.

After a little while he heard her sniffling begin to slow down, and her death grip on his back loosen. He pulled back slightly and looked at her with an unreadable expression. "Better?"

She shook her head. "Not really. Not when I don't know what that _bastard _did to me while I was unconscious."

He bit his lip and narrowed his eyebrows. "If he so much as touched you inappropriately, I will hunt him down out there and make him pay."

She smiled faintly and ran her fingers over his stubbly jaw softly. Her eyes looked faraway and it looked as if she was thinking something over, but before he could open his mouth to ask what about, she cupped his jaw with both of her hands and pulled his face down in a kiss that was all teeth and unforgiving lips. She didn't soften the kiss as she backed him up against the counter and continued to attack his mouth. He didn't mind though, and kissed her back with the same ferocity. She pulled back from his mouth and began to kiss her way down his neck and chest. Her fingers began working on the buttons of his dress shirt, and she managed to unbutton all of them but the ones that were tucked into his pants. She made to pull his shirt out of his pants, but he stopped her with his hands on her wrists.  
"Lizzie, talk to me. What's going on?"

She continued to nibble on his neck, then made her way up to his ear and sucked on his earlobe and said quietly, "I need you to help me forget."

He didn't let go of her wrists as he kissed the side of her head and said, "I don't want our first time to be like this. I don't want to be used because you're just trying to chase away your inner demons."

Her mouth stopped and he could hear her breathing slow. She buried her face in his neck and groaned. "I'm so sorry, Red. That's not fair to you at all. I wasn't think-"

He cut her off by pushing her back so he could get to her mouth, then kissed her tenderly. He pulled back after a few moments and let go of her wrists so he could put his hands on either side of her neck. "Don't get me wrong, sweetheart. There's nothing more I would rather do than take you up on your offer, but now isn't the time. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Her pulse quickened at the unmistakable look of lust in his eyes as she nodded. He smiled and kissed her softly once more, then said, "Now, your soup is going to get cold. Are you ready to eat?"

She didn't have much of an appetite, but knew she needed to at least attempt to eat something. She nodded and he grabbed her hand and pulled her around to the bar, then helped her sit on one of the stools.

He sat down next to her and they talked about anything that didn't have to do with their current predicament as she ate; it amazed her at how they still found many things to talk about. Apparently they weren't as different as she had first thought.

She managed to finish most of the soup before pushing the bowl back. He looked at her with pursed lips and said, "Are you finished?"

She nodded and stepped down from the stool, then walked over to the couch. She sat down on the couch and pulled the blanket over her, then watched as Red walked over to the fire and put another couple of logs on. The fire roared for a couple of seconds, then settled down slightly as Red sat next to her. She held out a corner of the blanket as an invitation for him to move closer to her. He nodded and put his arm around her, then pulled the blanket over his lap and her close to his side. They both took a deep breath and stared into the flames of the fire. After a few minutes of silence, he whispered, "Are you warm enough?"

She nodded and snuggled closer to him. His arm tightened and he moved his arm lower and began to caress her thigh right where her shirt ended. Her breathing became slower, indicating that she was close to falling asleep. His fingers continued to move higher, but he didn't go high enough to be inappropriate, or to cause her alarm. He was beginning to fall asleep himself, but then she slid her right arm over his waist, brushing his groin area by accident. His fingers tightened on her thigh momentarily as he attempted to control his body's natural response. He had just managed to control himself when her hand began to stray again; that's when he knew she was awake and teasing him.

He pulled her over onto his lap so that she was straddling him, then pulled her face down to kiss her before she had a chance to make a move. She kissed him back as he ran his tongue over her bottom lip, then moved it inside her mouth as she opened up for him. His hands moved up and down her thighs, then all the way up to her torso underneath the large shirt. He ran them over her abdomen softly, then brushed the underside of her breasts with his thumbs. She let out a little moan in his mouth as she began to move one of her hands towards the button of his pants. He hadn't bothered to button up his shirt from earlier, so she moved her free hand over his chest and shoulders.

Just as she managed to unbutton his pants and unzip the zipper, he smelt smoke. He knew it wasn't coming from the fireplace because the smell hadn't been that strong all night. He stopped his hands on her stomach and pushed her back a little. She made a little sound of protest, but he hushed her quietly and said, "Do you smell that?"

She furrowed her brows as she sniffed and shook her head. "Smells like fire to me. It's just the fireplace."

She moved to kiss him again, but he kept his hands on her torso and didn't let her move closer. "I'm quite certain it isn't the fireplace."

He pushed her off to the side of him gently, then stood up and buttoned his pants back up. As he walked towards the bedroom, he saw heavy smoke coming from it. He reached the doorway and swore when he saw high flames licking the ceiling of the room. He buttoned up his shirt, then grabbed the blankets from the bed and ran back into the living room.

"We have to go now." His face didn't betray the panic he was feeling.

"What? Why?" She stood up from the couch and wrapped the blanket back around her.

"Because apparently I should have gone with my gut instinct and killed Lucas. Now it seems he's looking for payback. The cabin is on fire and it's too far gone to save it. So I'll say it again. We have to leave."

The smoke was getting thicker in the small cabin and they both began to cough. She looked at her feet, "I don't even have shoes."

He walked over to her and handed her the pile of blankets he was holding.

"Then I'll have to carry you." He walked into the kitchen and opened the pantry, then grabbed some jerky and some nuts. He made his way back to her, then handed her the food and said, "I'm going to pick you up now."

"But.. Red..ooooh." He easily scooped her up in one motion and walked to the door quickly. It seemed adrenaline was aiding him, because he hardly felt her weight. He opened the door and a blast of cold air hit them both and took his breath away. The snow swirled inside as he walked down the porch steps and into the snow. He searched his immediate surroundings for Lucas, but it was too dark to see much. He didn't want to stick around and find out what he was up to though, so he trudged through the knee-high snow and hoped for the best.

**AN: **So I had to give you guys some fluff before tonight's episode. After reading Bokenkamp's latest interview and seeing all the promo pictures, I'm feeling decidedly anxious to see what's going to happen next. This chapter is dedicated to dashboard-confessions for pushing me to get this out before the episode. Thanks for kicking my butt into gear. Thanks so much for the reviews for this fic, I know I'm terrible at responding to them, but just know that I appreciate them so much. Please let me know what you think! Happy (or sad) Fedora Monday! :)


	4. Chapter 4

Red trudged through the knee-high snow for what seemed like hours. It was freezing. He could no longer feel his ears or his nose and he was beginning to lose feeling in his toes. They were in trouble.

Liz had her arms wrapped around his neck as he walked. She didn't complain once about the cold, but he knew that she was, because he could feel her teeth chattering where her face was buried in the crook of his neck.

While the adrenaline had sustained him for a little while, it no longer did, and she was beginning to feel heavier and heavier. His breathing was labored, and he knew that he couldn't go on much longer without taking a break. He was out of ideas and didn't know what to do other than to keep moving and hope for the best.

The swirling snow had only gotten worse since they were forced outside. The wind whipped every which way, and occasionally it would blow gusts of snow right into his face. He felt like he was walking in circles, and wouldn't be surprised if he was. He'd left his truck on the side of the road hours earlier knowing the cabin was only a half mile or so from the road, but they had traveled much farther than a half mile; so he must have gotten turned around somewhere.

Red moved his face into Liz's hair and said loudly enough for her to hear over the wind, "How are you doing?"

She moved her head and spoke into his ear. "I can't feel my toes. Do you need a break?"

As much as he hated to admit weakness, he needed to sit down for a moment. He put his face against her cold cheek and kissed it, then said, "Yes". Liz was still holding the blankets, so he stopped and set her down so she could stand on his shoes, then took the blankets from between their bodes and haphazardly spread one of them on the ground. She stepped back from him and sat down gingerly on the blanket. He watched her sink down, then he stepped forward and sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She spread the remaining two blankets over the top of them, then pushed him down to his back so they could huddle underneath them. She moved her body on top of his and laid her head on his shoulder as he pulled the blankets tighter and wrapped his arms around her back. Not a word was spoken between them, but they both understood how dire their situation was.

He was beyond worrying about Lucas though, and hoped that that wouldn't come back to bite them in the ass.

As they laid there, he began to think that they might be able to wait the storm out and resume walking when the sun came up; it wouldn't be as dangerous, and he actually felt quite warm with her lying on top of him.

He trailed his arm up her back, then moved his face so he could speak in her ear. "Are you warm enough?"

He heard a take a deep breath then let it out against his neck as she said, "I'm not suree if I'm warmm because hypothermiaa is starting to set in, or if it's because I'm actually warmm. I feel so sleepyy, I can barely keep my eyes openn."

He knew that wasn't a good sign. He moved his hand into her hair and massaged her scalp a little roughly to keep her alert. "Lizzie, listen to me. Under no circumstances are you allowed to fall asleep. If you do, you'll die. Do you understand?"

She laughed softly. "I haave you hereee. You're not gonnna let me fall asleeeep." Her words were slurred, as if her tongue was too heavy to move.

He grabbed a fistful of her hair and tugged. "Owww. Stopp it, Redd."

"You need to open your eyes for me, sweetheart. Promise me you won't fall asleep."

She sighed loudly into his ear. "Fine. I promise." Her voice sounded a little clearer, so Red released her hair and laid his head back down and sighed quietly; her body moving up and down with his breath.

They laid there for an interminable amount of time. Red checked every five minutes or so to make sure she was still awake, and she answered each time with a clear voice. They talked every once in a while about things that didn't matter, like about the weather, and Ressler's love life. Then they talked about things that did matter, like whether or not she ever wanted to have a child of her own, and if she ever wanted to get married again.

Her answers surprised him because she told him that she would want to get married again someday if the right person came along. She also told him that she still wanted to adopt, but also wanted have one of her own flesh and blood, too. She'd come a long way since he'd first met her.

As the hours passed and as he continually moved to brush the snow off of them, she became quieter and quieter. Every time he shook her shoulder to keep her awake, her answers were sighs and slurred, "I'm fines". He wasn't sure how much longer he could last either. His movements were slowing, and his brain felt fuzzy.

That's when he heard something that sounded like a cough. His head shot up, which dislodged Liz's from the crook of his neck, and he craned his head to listen for the sound again. He knew it hadn't been them that made that sound, but figured that maybe he was so far gone that it had been his imagination, or it had been a branch breaking off of a tree in the distance. When he didn't hear anything more but the whistling wind, he laid his head back to the ground, but made sure to keep his ears alert for more noises.

Liz's breaths were slow and labored; he had to get them moving again if only for her sake. He slipped her body off his, then sat up slowly and stretched his sore back. She didn't wake up. Just as he stood up, something or someone ran into him full on and slammed him into the snow. The force of the hit carried him past the blanket and Liz, and into the now thigh-high snow. He tried to breathe, but couldn't because the air had been knocked out of them. Red tried to curl up in a ball, but the thing on top of him moved and pulled him into a choke-hold. Tears began to stream from his eyes as he continually attempted to get his breath back to no avail.

Then he heard the unmistakable voice of Lucas Fields. "Hello, Reddington. Having a good time snuggling up to your girl? Way to take advantage of the situation," he sneered.

If Red had had any breath to use, he would have gagged at the rancid smell of Lucas' breath.

Red's vision began to blur as he felt the beginning signs of unconsciousness. He couldn't black out, not with Liz as vulnerable as she was. He reached up and pinched Lucas' arm as hard as he could. With a yelp, the arm loosened enough for him to move out of the choke-hold and cough so he could begin to breathe again.

Just as he took a deep breath, his body was slammed face down into the snow, and a knee was placed in the middle of his back. "You might as well stop fighting and give up, Reddington. You're not going to win this one. I'm going to kill you, then I'm going to have my way with "Lizzie", then I'm going to kill her, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it." Lucas laughed and dug his knee a little deeper into Red's back.

Red tried to move, but his body was so exhausted from the stresses put onto it that night that he had little energy to fight back; he barely felt the sting from the cold snow pushing into his face.

Lucas leaned down over him and snarled, "Come on you son of a bitch, say something. Fight. Do something!" He hit the back of Red's head a few times for emphasis.

Red was putting all his energy in staying conscious, and was slowly losing that fight. Just as the blackness began to take him under, the weight holding him down lifted. He turned over to see Liz sprawled on top of Lucas a few feet away, her bare legs and feet glowing white in the dim morning light. He glanced to the east and saw the clouds were beginning to turn light grey. They'd been outside for over five hours.

He took a deep breath and winced at the pain in his ribs, but quickly stood up to help Liz deal with Lucas; she still hadn't moved from where she had landed.

When he reached them, he grabbed Liz by her armpits and hauled her off of Lucas. She was like a limp doll. She was either unconscious or dead.

As Lucas scrambled to stand up, Red ran stiffly through the snow and placed Liz back on the blanket. He turned to see that Lucas was already running slowly towards him; it was time to end this bastard's life.

He reached down to his ankle and pulled a knife from the ankle sheath he'd placed there just before he'd left his truck earlier that day. He'd debated whether he would need it, but had decided on it at the last minute.

Lucas launched himself at Red again, but he was ready this time. Just as Lucas reached Red, Red thrust his knife into his heart, or at close as he could tell in the dim light. He heard a grunt of pain, then Lucas fell into him limply. Red reached up with his free hand and checked for a pulse, but found none; he'd killed him instantly.

Red pushed the body away from him, pulling his knife out of Lucas as he did so, then hurriedly turned back to check on Liz; she hadn't moved from where he placed her.

His adrenaline was back in full force. He leaned down and felt for her pulse; it was thready. He wrapped her in a blanket like a burrito and threw her over his shoulder. He didn't have time to be careful with her; her life was in the balance. He walked past Lucas and noted the blood staining the snow underneath his body; he didn't feel anything but contempt and disgust for the now deceased vile man

The snow had slowed down to little flakes during the scuffle. Now that he could see somewhat in the early morning light, he looked behind him to see if he could see the smoke from the cabin fire. He spotted it immediately, and realized that he'd been walking in circles all night; they were still fairly close to the now torched cabin. He jogged back towards the cabin to reorient himself. Liz bounced around on his shoulder, but didn't make any movements of her own.

He eventually figured out what way to go, then ran almost the entire half-mile back to his truck; liz felt like a feather pillow on his shoulder. He reached his truck in a matter of minutes and saw that it was half-buried; luckily it had four-wheel drive. He quickly pulled the door open and let the cascade of snow fall from the roof before softly laying Liz down across the bench seat. He reached down and checked her pulse again; no change. It was barely perceptible to his cold fingers.

He jumped in and shut the door behind him, then laid her head on his thigh and turned the key in the ignition. It took a few turns, but finally wheezed to a start. He revved the engine a few times, cranked the heat up to high, then put it into four-wheel drive. Red stomped on the gas pedal and launched out of the large pile of snow the truck sat in; luckily the snow was powdery and not wet and heavy.

He drove down the mountain with relative ease; but his nerves were shot. He kept his now warm fingers permanently over Liz's carotid as he made he way to the hospital; her pulse was so faint he almost wondered if he was imagining it.

He couldn't lose her. Not when she'd made her feelings known to him. They hadn't even had a chance to explore anything. He refused to let her die.

OOOOOO

Liz awoke to a strange beeping noise and bright light. She wondered if everything that she remembered had just been a dream. She closed her eyes, then opened them a crack to let them adjust. She felt warm and pain free, just like the last time she had woken up in strange place; she hoped Lucas wasn't still around.

Her eyes finally adjusted to the bright light, so she opened them completely and immediately realized that she was in a hospital room; how the hell had she gotten there? She thought back to the last thing she remembered. It was lying on Red's chest and talking about marriage and kids. Her heart warmed at the thought and she found herself smiling a bit. She wondered where Red was.

She made to move her hand, but something was holding it down. She lifted her head and smiled at the sight of Red with his head on her mattress, face towards her, and his hand holding her own; he was fast asleep. He looked to be dressed in the same clothes as before, and he looked tired, even while asleep.

She shook her hand slightly to wake him up, then watched as he rose his eyebrows with his eyes still closed and yawned widely; she felt a strange warmth in her chest that she hadn't felt for a while, but didn't want to give a name to.

"Red," she whispered.

His head shot up comically, and as soon as he saw that she was awake he grinned widely.

"Lizzie, how are you feeling?"

She squeezed his hand and smiled back. "Like I'm on pain meds."

He nodded. "It's because you are. You're lucky to be alive." He moved his hand from hers, then ran his fingers up her forearm softly.

Liz furrowed her eyebrows. "What happened exactly? Last thing I remember I was lying on top of you." There was a faint hint of a smile on her face.

His fingers stopped and he paused for a moment. "That's a story for another time. You need to concentrate on getting better."

She wasn't up to arguing with him about it, so she just nodded and closed her eyes; enjoying his hand running up and down her arm.

After a few moments of silence, she opened her eyes again and saw that he was looking at her with something akin to tenderness. "What?"

He smiled faintly and sighed. "I don't want to have this discussion while your on pain meds. It can wait." He moved his hand up and ran the back of his fingers over her cheek.

Liz closed her eyes and said, "I don't want to be alone anymore."

"What?"

She opened her eyes and looked right at him. "I don't want to be alone anymore. I'm ready to move on from Tom." She looked meaningfully at him.

He sucked in a surprised breath, then nodded. "Then you won't be."

She furrowed her eyebrows, then said a little hesitantly. "I...I think I'm falling in love with you."

He closed his eyes momentarily at her words. Then stood up and leaned close to her face. "You don't know how long I've waited for you to say that. I just hope it's you saying that and not the drugs."

She shook her head. "I've felt like this for a while now. I promise it's me..all me."

He leaned forward and kissed her tenderly, but didn't allow her to deepen it before he moved his lips up to her forehead and lingered there for a few moments. Before he lost his courage, he whispered with his lips against her forehead, "I'm already in love with you."

He heard her sigh contentedly as she grabbed him by the waist and pulled him down towards her. There were rough waters ahead for them, not to mention rules against them loving each other; but they would figure it out together. It was worth it to both of them.

**AN: **First things first. I had a couple of guests comment on my "Fire" fic about me forgetting about Liz's scar. I didn't forget about it. I just don't think she got it in the fire. In the pilot, Liz said her "daddy gave it to her". I think it's a brand, not a burn.

Alright..on to Stranded. Thank you so, so, so, so much for reading and reviewing this fic. I'm not sure I'm happy with the ending, but it's time to end this so I can continue my other fics. I have like 3 plot bunnies that are running around demanding to be written, too. I would love to hear what you think about this chapter..have a great day. :)


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